On Friday we packed up – took our leave of my mother & drove back up north to Haverhill. I drove the ‘normal’ way- up 93 to 495 as opposed to going rte 1 to 95 which is how we drove on the way to Ann’s (because we were going to Newburyport first)

We headed right for John Greenleaf Whittier’s birthplace to take a tour. Deciding to go visit was a painful decision to make- I’ve been going there as a visitor (At first to my Uncle & Aunt’s home when they were caretakers/curators there) Since 1979- I got to spend an occasional weekend or week there as their babysitter over the years as their children grew. By 1987 my uncle & aunt were ready to leave but my grandmother- who had moved in to help with the tour giving & babysitting in 1985 when she retired- wasn’t ready to leave so she & my favorite cousin J. both wrote to me while I was living in VA (for the first time!) suggesting to me that I come home & live with her at the Birthplace. We moved in on 4/1/88 & I was in & out from then forward up until we moved to VA again in 1997 (there was an in between time in VA between 1993 & ‘94 too) About a year after the ex & I took 17 & 11 to VA my grandmother moved out & went into her apartment in the center of town which was in an elderly assisted living building.

It was so strange walking up & ringing the doorbell like a visitor when I was the one giving tours (at least some of the time) just 10 years ago. We had had many discussions about whether we were going to play it straight & tell the person who came to the door who we were or if we were going to let them give us a tour & play like we had no clue. We hadn’t made a decision until we got there- upon meeting the woman who is apparently the curator- I made up my mind that she seemed fairly nice & that I’d come clean. She of course- knew of my grandmother & mentioned the approbation everyone seemed to feel for my grandmother- which was nice to hear. The kids & I walked around- Mr 7 & 17’s BF for the first time. 17 & 11 seemed a little dazed-

I walked around pointing important things out to them – the fireplace which their dad & I were married in front of & which they hung their stockings in front of for years on end- The linnen towels made by Whittier’s mother from flax which had been grown there- The fold up rope bed in the room Whittier was born in (also their parlor) The uber-victorian lock of hair – from his head after he died- in the secretary & the very cool early sunglasses tinted blue & green also in the secretary. The cradle I have pictures of 17 in when she was a baby. The small bedroom which was Whittier’s parents bedroom which is raised up higher than the rest of the main room & the buttrey which I have pictures of with the sun coming in at a lovely angle (only happens for a certain week or so in the late spring at just the right angle)

17 & 11 had both fantasized about asking the person who was working there to let us see the rest of the house but I had cautioned them not to- I always thought that was so rude & impolite of people- like dropping everything the second someone rang the doorbell wasn’t enough of an imposition people would ask that all the time. Or rudely inquire as to why they couldn’t see the rest of the place & when I explained that it was our living space sniff & say they didn’t see why it wasn’t part of the tour.

when 11 & I used the bathroom in the blacksmith shop across the street I asked her what she thought & she asked me if I’d ever had the feeling I’d been somewhere a million times before but at the same time felt like I’d never seen any of what I was seeing before in my life. (I have- though it was more a hearing of a song which I’d known as a 2 year old child & hadn’t heard again until I was 11’s age or older) She said that’s how she felt about being there- it all seemed so familiar but at the same time it all seemed like she’d never seen any of it before in her life (she was 15 months old when we moved to VA)

We all took a walk around the grounds- Saw the waterfall- the old millpond- the rock stairs & turnstile- walked to the burial ground & then pretty much ran back to the car because there was a thunderstorm rolling in & no one really wanted to get wet. We gathered a couple of the pamphlets for both the house & the new ‘Freeman Trail’ named in honor of the former president of the Trustees who died a few years ago. I liked the pamphlet & how it explained everything outside- though I thought the little numbered signs beside each thing outdoors- like the well & the beehives- were a little funny.

After sitting out the brunt of the storm in the car in front of the house we drove into Haverhill. I had wanted to walk around & look in shops but no one was into it- because no one had any money & 17 especially – who I’d thought I could convince to go with me was depressed about it-  we basically sat in the car for an hour waiting for it to be time to call my cousin’s girlfriend to come let us into the apartment building. I people watched & studied the architecture of the buildings on Washington street which I have done before but not in at least 10 years.

Haverhill still makes me homesick- I could probably live there & embrace the whole urban thing if I could have an apartment right downtown like that & walk to the train to go to Boston- or to the post office etc. But not with kids & I also know that I’d miss the whole rural atmosphere that I have here. That was one of the great things about living at Whittiers- It was fairly country with 75 acres around us but still very close to the city.

I called & got her voice mail & left her a message. After another hour I called again & still voice mail- at this point the kids were restless. I waited another 1/2 hour & text messaged my cousin himself- he explained via text that his girlfriends cell phone is difficult & doesn’t always accept calls from phones it hasn’t called before! (never heard of such a thing but I had an email address that was like that once!) He called her & then called me back & told me to go meet her right then. At that point we’d actually headed out to get dinner & so had to turn around to go back to their apartment building & get the key from her. I was able to get on street parking (A miracle on a busy Friday night) so we carried our bags in & got slightly settled in the room & then went back out to have some dinner.

We ate at Aris subs & decided as good as Themis is Ari’s is actually a little better! It’s a good thing they’re approximately 70 miles apart so that we don’t have to make a choice between them as to where to eat. We drove around a little & looked at places that used to have meaning to me -I took pictures of a couple of places- the ancestral home of my grandmother & mother & the apartment the ex & I had when I was pregnant with miss 11. Then back to the apartment & decided how to cram 5 people into a space meant for 2 at the most.